Metallic wire grid behavior and testing in a low pressure gaseous noble elements detector

Journal Article · 21 May 2018 · Journal of Instrumentation

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/13/05/c05015 · OSTI ID:1458615

Ji, W. ^[1]

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1. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States)

High voltage performance has been a challenge for noble element detectors. One piece of this challenge is the emission of electrons from metal electrodes when applying high voltage. This has become a major concern for low-background detectors such as LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ). LZ is a liquid xenon Time Projection Chamber (TPC) searching for Weakly Interactive Massive Particles (WIMPs). In this work, we demonstrate a method to measure electron emission from metallic electrode grids via detection of proportional scintillation light. As a result, we find consistency with Fowler-Nordheim emission with a surface parameter β = 1988 after electro-polishing treatment of a stainless steel grid.

• Research Organization: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-76SF00515
• OSTI ID: 1458615
• Journal Information: Journal of Instrumentation, Journal Name: Journal of Instrumentation Journal Issue: 05 Vol. 13; ISSN 1748-0221
• Publisher: Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English